Drone delivery technology has grown significantly in recent years. Examples of these include the Gentry patents U.S. Pat. No. 9,527,605 and U.S. Pat. No. 9,387,928 (Amazon Technologies) for Multi-Use Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Docking Stations. In each instance, the docking stations can be networked with a central control and a plurality of UAVs. The docking stations can include a number of services to facilitate both UAV guidance and maintenance and community acceptance and benefits. The docking stations can include package handling facilities and can act as a final destination or as a delivery hub. The docking stations can extend the range of UAVs by providing recharging/refueling stations for the UAVs. The docking stations can also include navigational aid to guide the UAVs to the docking stations and to provide routing information from the central control. The docking stations can be incorporated into existing structures such as cell towers, light and power poles and buildings. The docking stations can also comprise standalone structures to provide additional services to underserved areas.
Other examples include the package transport container and transport operations for a UAV as depicted in US 2016/0207627 and US 2016/0068265, both to Hoareau (IBM Corp.). According to the '265 publication, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is provided that is capable of flying between a pick up point and a delivery point with respect to a package transfer operation. The delivery point is identifiable by the UAV through global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the delivery point and verification of a device identifier of a package docking device (PDD) associated with a package transfer request.
A control processor coupled to the UAV receives a transaction packet for the operation that includes the GPS coordinates and the device identifier of the PDD associated with the request. Upon arrival of the UAV at the delivery point, the control processor verifies that a device identifier of a PDD located at the delivery point matches the device identifier in the transaction packet, implements the package transfer operation and transmits confirmation of completion of the operation to an originator of the request.
The '627 publication further teaches a package transport container for a UAV which includes a manifest device having a computer processor, a receptacle including a base that secures contents of the receptacle, a locking mechanism that couples the manifest device to the receptacle during transport and a connector coupling the manifest device to the UAV. The processor transmits material properties of the contents of the receptacle to the UAV, receives routing information for a package to be transported, monitors coordinates of the package transport container during transport and upon determining the coordinates match coordinates of a delivery location specified in the routing information: sends a release request signal to the UAV to release the receptacle; receives a release command from the UAV; and disengages the locking mechanism to release the manifest device from the base. The routing information is determined at least in part based on the material properties of the contents.
While the technology for drone delivery has advanced significantly in recent years, an ongoing challenge focuses on the security aspects of drone package delivery (and pickup), most notably as it relates to residential and rural delivery of packages in which the unsecure nature of the delivery environment may not make drone delivery otherwise practical (e.g., homeowner away at the time of delivery). The challenge is in providing an efficient and cost effective solution for securely receiving and holding drone delivered packages for later retrieval. Given further the safety considerations associated with many current drone designs (such having multiple high speed rotating blades), it is sensible to provide a safe delivery environment even in instances in which the recipient is nearby and the present inventions seek to address those concerns.
Manitta, US 2016/0157653 teaches an unmanned delivery vehicle which can secure atop a pole, the latter being hollow for permitting slide-down of mail or parcels. Priest, US 2016/0309346 teaches a UAV which can interface with a delivery location associated with a top of a cellular phone tower (see FIGS. 10-12). The UAV in this variant includes robotic arms for delivery of components (payload 602) associated with tower maintenance.
Other references include UK 2544657 which teaches another type of secured container system for unattended deliveries. US 2018/0049575 (Yamrick) teaches another type of extensible platform for displacing out of an opening (window 8). The holding area can be environmentally controlled and the disclosure includes a smartphone communication protocol for announcing package delivery.
US 2017/0039510 (Ogilvie) teaches another drone delivery method for permitting secure and unattended delivery of parcels. Finally, a further advanced example of a processor/software delivery module for requesting UAV package delivery and authentification is provided in Obaidi, US 2017/0090484.